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Gustavo Petro wants to end coal and oil exports, a plan that appeals to young voters

Gideon Long in Bogotá

It is not every presidential hopeful who wants to end their country’s biggest export industry.

But that is exactly what Colombia’s Gustavo Petro, a leftwing former guerrilla, is proposing with his plans to overturn the country’s reliance on hydrocarbons — a policy that is resonating with young voters, unnerving investors and that opponents call a half-baked idea typical of a “Castro-Chavista”.